Cleaning of hard surfaces, such as floors, can be a challenging task. Typically when cleaning a floor, a user employs a stick-type cleaning implement according to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. D409,343 and/or D588,770. Such a cleaning implement may comprise a plastic head for holding a cleaning sheet and an elongate handle articulably connected thereto. The handle may comprise a metal or plastic tube or solid rod. The handle may be spring biased in known fashion towards a predetermined position.
The head may have a downwardly facing surface, to which the sheet may be removably attached. The downwardly facing service may be generally flat, or slightly convex. The head may further have an upwardly facing surface. The upwardly facing surface may have a universal joint to facilitate connection of the elongate handle to the head.
The upwardly facing surface may further comprise a mechanism, such as resilient grippers, for removably attaching the cleaning sheet to the implement according to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,290 and/or D487,173. Alternatively, a hook and loop system may be used to attach the cleaning sheet to the head.
Such cleaning implements may have vacuum type suction to assist in removal of debris according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,169. The implement may have an axially rotatable beater bar according to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 8,910,340. A motorized implement may be made according to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,516,508. Debris removed from the target surface may be collected in a dust bin. The dust bin may be mounted within the head, or, alternatively, on the elongate handle.
But such a cleaning implement may not be suitable for all users. The user may be of limited mobility or not have the dexterity to manipulate the handle. An elderly user may tire before the cleaning task is completed, due to the bipedal motion and manipulation of the cleaning device. Thus, cleaning according to the prior art may be infeasible for such a user.
Furthermore, not all cleaning tasks occur at floor level. Surfaces such as shelves, countertops and items such as vases and picture frames are often cleaned of light debris using dusters. A common disposable duster comprises one or more nonwoven sheets having one or more layers of tow fibers joined thereto, to provide a laminate structure as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,813,801 and according to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,803,726; 8,756,746; 8,763,197 and 8,931,132. Such dusters are often removably attached to an elongate handle using friction or mechanical engagement according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,386 and/or commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 8,578,564.
But manually dusting with such a duster may not always be feasible. The user may not have the dexterity needed to complete the task. Or items to be cleaned may be out of reach. For example, the items may be too high or obscured by other objects. Cleaning according to the prior art may be infeasible for such a user or for objects disposed out of reach.
Accordingly a new approach is needed, which provides for users of limited mobility/dexterity the capability to clean a floor. Likewise, a new approach is needed to dust objects out of reach of healthy persons and to clean elevated objects which cannot be cleaned by persons of limited mobility/dexterity.
The invention proposes to use aerial drones to assist in certain cleaning tasks. Drones are commonly used for hobby purposes. Drones may also be used for utilitarian purposes. For example, drones may be used to monitor power lines, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,990 or to deliver mail, as discussed in US 2014/0254896. US 2015/0274294 teaches the use of an aerial vehicle which sprays water/soap onto a window. But 2015/0274294 does not teach how to overcome waterspots left by the spraying or how to clean debris not removed by the spray. Drones have been proposed to clean outdoor solar panels using brooms, where ambient dust can be swept from the solar panel onto the ground. But such an approach is unsuitable for indoor residential and commercial cleaning. Dust and dirt cannot simply be broomed onto the floor—where the occupant may simply track the dust and debris to other rooms. Various drones are discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,214,088; 8,474,761; 8,498,447; 8,594,862; 8,662,438; 8,725,314; 8,958,928; 8,983,684; 8,989,924; 2015/0120094 and 2015/035437. The present invention overcomes the problems of users not being able to employ conventional cleaning implements for certain hard surface cleaning tasks.